Sweet cider serves up bitter blow to apple growers
protection IN A tradition that dates back more than 700 years, Herefordshire is one of the biggest cider-making regions in the world.
But a trend toward sweeter-flavoured fruit ciders is changing the face not only of the industry, but of the countryside in the West Midlands.
A glut of apples means that big brewers such as Heineken are cancelling or not renewing contracts with growers, leaving them with little option but to consider bulldozing their orchards.
Some less traditional apple growers have already started to tear up their trees to plant alternative crops.
James Forbes, chairman of the Three Counties Cider and Perry Association, said: “It is a very complex picture, but fundamentally the industry is moving further and further away from the use of apple as the principal ingredient in cider. That seems very strange to say, but that is the case.”
Cider must be made of at least 35 per cent apple juice, but the move towards flavoured or fruit cider – including strawberry and passion fruit – has seen brewers using more flavourings, sugars and water to make up the rest of the drink.
This means that traditional bittersweet apple varieties, which are not suitable to eat straight from the tree, are no longer needed in the process in such great quantities.
“That is a real shame. Your bittersweet apples are what defines English cider and this is a fundamental shift away from that,” said Mr Forbes, who is the cider maker at Little Pomona.
It is not only a change in the industry but a “change in the face of the Herefordshire countryside”, he said, adding: “Cider has been part of the Herefordshire landscape for a long time and it is a shame to see that go.”
According to the Westons Cider Report 2018 – regarded as the most authoritative review of the industry – the UK’s £2.98billion cider industry is the biggest in the world.
But fruit ciders now make up 27 per cent of the total, up from 0.08 per cent in 2005. At the current rate of growth, they will represent 48 per cent by 2023.
One grower who faces the prospect of having to tear up his traditional orchard is Tim Bunting, who has been at Grove Farm, in Kimbolton, Herefordshire, since the Eighties. The trees predate him, while the farm has been providing apple varieties such as Brown’s, Vilberie and Dabinett to the Bulmer cider presses for more than 60 years.
Mr Bunting contributed up to 50 tons a year but was informed in February that his contract had come to an end and would not be renewed.
He does not blame Bulmer – now owned by Heineken – which has had a good relationship with growers since Percy Bulmer, a local vicar’s son, built the cider mill in 1887.
But without the business of the big brewers, Mr Bunting and his neighbours have few choices.
When they realised Heineken would not be taking their crop Mr Bunting’s son, Rory, advertised for people to come and take the apples, but whilst they have had some interest from craft cider makers they still face an uncertain future.
Mr Bunting said he was loathe to bulldoze his orchard as it was not only a part of his living but provided a habitat for animals, including two varieties of woodpecker, but also importantly “it is a pick-me-up... It is a thing to see,” he said. “When in spring all the blossom comes out life goes on again.” But like many traditional orchard farmers in the region, he grazes his sheep under the apple trees. If the fruit is left to drop and is eaten by the animals it could prove deadly.
Craft cider – like that produced by Mr Forbes – is making a comeback, but the market is nowhere near the size of the mainstream market.
“There are opportunities for farmers out there,” Mr Bunting said. “But they
‘The industry is moving further ... away from the use of apple as the principal ingredient in cider’
are small and will not take up the glut of apples”.
A spokesman for Heineken said: “Heineken is committed to Herefordshire, investing £58million over the past few years... We have positive longterm relationships with our growers, supporting them to improve the productivity and sustainability of their orchards. It’s no secret that there is an oversupply of apples across the industry driven by increased lifespan of orchards, bumper crops and changing market dynamics. We’re working closely ... with our growers and are committed to ensuring a sustainable long-term supply of cider apples.”